...Hahaha YES!!!

Unironically one of my favorite artists

Still watching this youtube channel about what I can only describe as "Dark Classical art" and this one absolutely floored me because I was unaware of it and I want to share it because it changes my perspective on this artist completely.

You might be aware of Louis Wain. If not by name then by his art. He's the artist behind that series of cat drawings that slowly became more and more abstract and bizarre.

This series of paintings of cats are often labelled as a visual representation of Wain's deteriorating mental illness and schizophrenia. Even more so often labelled as "a tragic display of a painter's failing battle with schizophrenia."

The paintings look like this and were painted around the very early 1900s.

Ok got all that?

So here's the thing.

Although Wain did suffer from a mental illness that was strong enough for him to be institutionalized, his mental illness was never diagnosed with clear certainty. Although "Schizophrenia" is so heavily applied to him based purely on how his series of paintings LOOK, despite actual specialists widely disputing this. On top of this, although he did paint the kaleidoscope cat portraits during this time, it was not the only things he painted, and he was quite capable of painting "normal" pictures of cats.

The Kaleidoscope Cat portraits are more images of him experimenting with colour and shapes, something the Smithsonian themselves state on their website.

Wain had actually made his entire living painting whimsical images of cats, often for product adverts, before he was incarcerated and was actually a very beloved artist at the time. When his friends learned of his incarceration, they started a collection of donation money to help transfer Wain to the Bethlam Royal Hospital instead, one of the best mental health facilities of the time. Even the Prime Minster of the time donated, and they raised a large amount of money across England to help him.

4 years later, Wain drew this as his final image which he released publicly

I knew all about "the Schizophrenic cat Guy" but he had always been presented to me as some tragic case of an artist going mad and his skills and work unraveling as he went insane.

Which is why I wanted to share this information which was new to me. And because I think it's important.

My job now is to outlive that man.

I will outlive him. I will be here when he is gone. I will be here when he has been erased. I will be here, telling stories, loving my wife, protecting my friends and family, cherishing joy and kindness and diversity. I will be here. He will not. It is only a matter of time.

think i've been happier overall lately, but when those low days come around they hit just a little harder

YEAHHHHHHHHH

OH MY GOD

Might make more of them DANCE

ATTACK FOR @toldentops

decided to blorbofy my lamb

narinder being an absolute wet paper bag emotionally is so silly to me- he spends so much time being like i am feeling an emotion and i do not know what it is so it must be a bad one

based off this

Tumblr

LANCE *trips u with my wide sweep*

crunching the numbers

#543 - #544 - #545. As Venipede evolves, its carapace becomes a dull cocoon as its insides liquify, and if anything tries to break it, it'll stab them aggressively until dead. It regains its lustrous carapace after evolving and becomes docile, giving rides to smaller pokémon and humans it meets.

Sponsored by @madsk3tch. Design process under read more.

I had a pretty solid idea for scolipede itself: Make it more buggy, reference centipede anatomy, but keep its horse whimsy. I did many study of centipede faces and anatomy to figure out how to place their antennae and ultimate legs (thats what the final pair of legs that look like antennae on the end of centipedes is named!). I wanted to keep some of the horn shapes, and also have the tail look like a false head like it does in many centipedes.

The weird eye shape of these guys is referencing the ocelli of centipedes: forming compound eyes. The spikes are actually referencing a milipede instead of a centipede, Desmoxytes purpurosea, who have big pink spikes. The empty spot is meant to look like a little saddle :) and the difference in color is because i think bright green feels more toxic paired with red than the greyish purple the canon one has.

venipede was easy, adapting the canon simplicity and then just adding some centipede anatomy like the antennae below the carapace.

whirlipede however, was pretty annoying. I didnt know what to do with it! i didnt want to just make a wheel but didnt want for it to just look like a venipede curled up. i decided to go the cocoon route: the carapace is protecting the goo inside. centipede dont go through cocoon phases but shhh. made it dull to keep its unique color from the rest of the line that the canon one has.